Drying tumbler



June 18, 1935. c. M. OTIS DRYING TUMBLER Original Filed July 17, 1951 mm 7E mw T7 N e N0 R h E O M a s v w Ifi /A w H M 6 w C. M. OTIS DRYING TUMBLER June 18,1935.

Original Filed July 17, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR KHAFL 5 /7. 077.5

C. M. OTIS DRYING TUMBLER June 18, 1935.

Original Filed July 17, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR (HA/P455 M 077: M 40 0. M. OTIS DRYING TUMBLER June 18, 1935.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 v d 5 A Original Filed July 17, 1931 a 0 Q o o ooooo oooooo OOOEO INVENTOR (WA/P4 5 /7. Or/a M h +711 ATTORNEY June 18, 1935. Q 0115 2,005,386

DRYING v TUMBLER Original Filed July 17, 1951 e Sheets-Shed 5 INVENTOR 3 ('f/ARLES /7. 07/3 BY g: MW W L I ATTORNEYS DRYING TUMBLER June 18, 1935.

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed July 17, 1931 INVENTOR 0/4515 /7. 0775 7L 5 2 ArrozfExs Patented June 18, 1935 pitrI-NG TUMBLER Charles M.- Otis, Cincinnati/Ohio, assigns to The American Laundry Machinery Company, (lincinnatilflhio, a corporation of Ohio Original application Jul 551,403. Divided and 17, 1933, SerialVNo. 661,

5 Claims. (Class 192-135) My invention relates to drying machines of the tumbling type and, particularly, to that type used in laundries in whichiclothes, wearing apparel or textiles are placed in a revolvingcylinder and tumbled through currents of air.

' This application is a divison of application Serial No. 551,403, filed July 1'7, 1931, for Drying tumbler. I a

It is well known that drying is the removal of a liquid from another substance or from an object by vaporization and it is generally known that, when a gaseous substance such as air moves across the wet surface ofan object, a film ofair exists on the surface of the object, the'character of the film being entirely different from the main air body and forming a boundary or zone between the moving main air body and the object. Such film acts towards the transportation of heat, vapor, and matter from the object to the moving main air body as though it were a separate ma terial and vapors canescape through this film only by conduction or diffusion. V

Thus, surface evaporation of water. from an object such as a piece of cloth is a diliusionof water vapor from the surface of the cloth through a relatively stationary air film in contact with the cloth to the surrounding air into'which fur ther dissemination is rapidly effected by-conv'ection, and the factors controlling the rate of such surface evaporation are the velocity of the air passing through the machine and over thesurface of the goods, the amount of heat supplied to the goods, and the amount of surface of the goods exposed to the heat. The fact that the amount of water vapor leaving a wet object depends upon the temperatureof the object and the surrounding atmosphere is well known.

One object of my invention is to provide a drying machine of the above type so constructed and arranged as to produce the largest amount of drying action with the greatest possible eiliciency and economy.

Another object of myinvention. is the provision and arrangement of a means Within the drying machine for directing currents of air through a heating means so asto obtain the greatest amount of heat therefrom and to produce apath of air currents through the heating means and the clothes containing means which will approach an ellipse in form and be free from sharp bends and reverse curves.

Still another object of my invention is to pro,- vide a delinting device in the machine which will maintain the circulatory air path in a free from lint condition and will positively collect any lint tion of the cylinder regardless of located at one end of the control y 17, 1931,.SerialNo. this application March 362 removed from the location. a I I A further objectof my invention is to provide means, in this instance, a wiper or wipers air path in a readilyaccessible and battles, that will provide a positive block :1-

against the escape of air currents around theoutside of the cylinder at thereof and will definitely direct the currents of air into the cylinder.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a lock for the rotating cylinder door such that opening of any one cylinder door when the cylinder is in loading or unloading position will prevent the operation of the control for rotating the cylinder, and likewise, will prevent the rota the control. In addition to this safety arrangement, it is a still further object of my invention to provide a means for preventing operation of the machine until the outside case door is in closed position and to prevent opening of the case door when the cylinder is rotating.

A stillfurther object of my invention is to provide wear strips on the doors of the cylinder which receive all of the wear due to sliding and A still further object of my invention is to provide amachine of the above type in'which' the controls forthe complete operation thereof. are machine in such posi tion that an operator is not required to move from one position to operate any part.

Other objects and advantageous featuresof my invention may be seen in the following description and one embodiment thereof may be seen in the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding' parts, and wherein in 1 Fig. '1' is'anelevation of one end of a drying tumbler, parts of the guard being broken away to show the drive and parts of the frame being broken away to show the damper operating means. The above figure shows a view of the and of a drying tumbler constructed in accordance with my invention showing the brake operating and control mechanism and the thermo-control mechanism. I

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposing end of the all timesduring rot t on E FICE scrapping the doors drying tumbler shown in Fig. 1,.parts of the guard being broken away to show the fan driving means, parts of the outside channels being broken away to show the construction. of the frame, and other foo the doors are in open 'door latches showing the materialto-be dried and is parts of the frame being broken away to show the damper operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the drying tumbler showing the various control means for the device and the drive for the cylinder at one end of the machine and the drive for the fan at the opposing end thereof. This view alsov shows the cylinder doors and the delinting apparatus forming a part of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional viewtaken on theline 5-5 of Fig. 4. V r

Fig. 6 is a detail view'of the brake operating and control lever in a position in which the brake is released and a cylinderis' rotated.

Fig. 7 is a detail view'of the outer case door locking mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a view showing the extreme top'of the cylinder door in closed position and also the cylinder bar locking mechanism for preventing rotation of the cylinder when any one or all of position. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing a cylinder door in open position and the cylinder bar locking mechanism in locked position.

Fig. 10 is a view taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a detail view of one of the cylinder wedge type construction of' the latch bolt.

Fig. 12 is a view taken on Figull. 1

Fig. 13 is a View taken on the line l3-l3 of the line l2-l2 oi Fig. 11.

with steam and in which they are drained.

Fig. 15 is a view of the temperature control switch or thermo-control.

Fig. 16 is a sectional view taken on the line l6-l6 of Fig. 9 andshowing the wear strips that form a part of the cylinder doors. Referring to the drawings and particularly Figs. 1 and 4 thereof, I have shown one embodiment of my invention as comprising a drying tumbler embodying a forward section i and a rearward section 2, the forward section I consisting of a casing covering a drying cylinder 3, a plurality of fans 4, and an air delinting device 5 and the rearward section! consisting of a casing covering a heating unit 6.

The forward and rearward sections I and 2 are mounted upon and secured to I-beam bases 1 and 8 respectively and the bottom of the forward and rearward sections consists of a heavy piece of sheet metal 9 supported above the floor of the rooms in which the drying tumbler and heating unit are disposed the height of the I-beam bases 1 and 8 to provide a dead air space between the bottom of the drying tumbler casing and the floor of the room to form an insulation reducing the loss of heat from the drying tumbler at this point. As shown in Fig. 2, the end frames of both the front and rear sections are made up of a plurality of lengths of channel iron H! in a network of cross beams and vertical beams properly secured together.

Thedrying cylinder 3 may be of any size necessary to get the maximum of exposed surface of of the usualconstruction in this type of machine and mounted in bearings I I that are preferably of the self-aligning type of tapered roller bearings.

Generally,

-l6 formed by circular straps i1, i8 and .shown best in Figs. 8 and 9, the frame work making up the end heads or transmitters and the channels and ribs are covered with heavy woven mesh wire 14 providing a strong and durable cylinder and one which will oiier the least resistance to the passage of air therethrough.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, the cylinder 3 is provided with a plurality of sliding doors l5 of perforated sheet metal formed to the curvature of the cylinder and adapted to slide in guideways l9, and since a cylinderdoor that has been in operation over a long period of time becomes thin and worn at the edges which engage the guideways I6, finally becoming so loose and noisy as to require renewal, wear strips 28 are provided which lie in alignment with the door sheet and are held in place by straps ii, 22, 23 and M as shown in Figs. 9 and 16. Thus, the total width of the door is made up of the door body and a wear strip 20 at each side thereof whereby it is only necessary to replace the wear strips when they become worn and the necessity of renewing the entire door is eliminated.

As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, each cylinder door is provided with spring actuated latches 25 and 26 that are identical in construction and, as shown in Fig. 11, comprise a bolt 21 having rack teeth 28 thereon to cooperate with a gear segment 29 mounted on a shaft 30. Such gear segment is rotated by a handle 3| secured to the shaft 30 and causes the bolt 27 to either move against the pressure of a spring 32 and out of engagement with a latch keeper 33 or permits the latch bolt to be moved into the latch keeper 33 by the pressure of the spring. As shown, the bolt 2'! is tapered at its end and the inner surface of the latch keeper is correspondingly tapered whereby a tight and solid fitting door is obtained.

The'tightness and solidity of the fit between the latch bolt and latch keeper is dependent upon the operating handle which limits the movement of the bolt into the keeper by having its rotative movement in one direction limited and, to provide adjustment for wearing of the parts, the handle 3! is adjustably mounted on the shaft 30 as shown in Fig. 12. That is, the pin 34 which holds the handle in definite fixed relation to the shaft 36 is notched whereby the handle may be set to a new position to allow the latch bolt to make a deeper or shallower contact with the latch keeper.

In order to prevent rotation of the cylinder when any one cylinder door is in open position, a

bar lock is provided as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, which comprises a bar 3'5 vmost end torengage the blocks 3'5 in certain positions of the door and move the bar 35 longitudinally into engagement with a slot 38 in one of a pair of arcuate angle irons 39 disposed at each end of'the cylinder, the lower arcuate angle. irons forming a support for a delinting screen 40 that conforms to the shape of the cylinder.: The rod 35 is further guided by a strap 4! bent to fit over the end of the bar'as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

In operation of the cylinder doors, assuming that the cylinder doors are in aligned position with the usual outer casing door opening which is indicated as shown in Fig. l by an indicator 42 in registration with a point .43, whena cylinder doorisraised a beveled edge 31 will engage one of the blocks 36 and move the bar 35 longitudinally against the resistance of a spring 44 into a slot 38 hereinbefore described. With the bar 35 in engagement with the slot 38, it will be apparent that rotation of the cylinder will be prevented while any one of the cylinder doors is in open position. On closing of all cylinder doors and disengagement of the strap 31 with the block 36, the spring 44 will move the bar 35 longitudinally out of engagement with the slot 38 whereby the cylinder may be. rotated.

Howevenit will be noted that opening of any one of the cylinder doors will cause movement of the bar 35 into engagement with the slot 38 and that all of the cylinder doors must be closed before the cylinder may be rotated.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a plurality of axially aligned fans 4 are located approximately midway of the front and rearward side of the drying tumbler, considering the machine as a whole, and are arranged ashort distance forwardly of the rear wall 45 that separates the forward andrearward sections I and 2 and it will be understood that the number of fans required is proportional to the length of the machine and the proper distribution is dependent on the distance they are spaced apart, the number of fans thereby being preferably variable.

The fans 4 are connected as one integral part to the separate wall or panel 45 by means of ducts 45, 41, 48 and '49 having diverging Wall's'56 extending from the fan housing openings to a rectangular opening 5! and the divergingwalls are interconnected as at 52 to form practically a single fan discharge the entire length of the machine.

In the operation of the fans which are mounted in aligned bearings 53 and on a single shaft 54 and'driven by suitable means hereinafter described, air is drawn through openings 55 on opposing sides of each fan and is then forced out into the heating unit 6 and thence to and through the cylinder 3, the air being then drawn back into the fans 4. a

Numerals 49 and 56 to 62 refer to the delinting device claimed in said divisional-application.

The outer casing of the forward section I of the drying tumbler is dividedat a horizontalcenter line of the bearing II which supports the cylinder 3 and these two parts are suitablysecured together by means of bolts 63-as shown in Fig. 2. Likewise, the outer casing of theforward section I and the rearward section 2, which contains a heating element 6 consisting, in this instance, of a series of parallel pipes throu'gh'which the heating medium is passed, are similarly separable and suitably secured together by means of bolts. In the construction of the apparatus casing forming the forward section I, the inside and outside of. the end frames made up of the channel-irons I0 are covered with panels such as 64, 65, and 66, such panels being preferably of sheet iron and overlapped on the outside-of each end frameof the apparatus and-raised atcertain of their edges of the strap to form a bead 61. in the walls by having inside panels 68,69, 19, 1|. and 12 that abut Likewise, the top,

A dead air spacev is provided and 15 are all'of double thickness of metal separated by an air space which is not free to outside circulation and acts as an insulation against J r 1 loss of heat, see Fig. 4. Thus, the greater portion of the outer casing of the forward section I is heat insulated. I

. As shown in Fig. '4, a sliding dooris supported I inguideways at the rear of the apparatus to provide access to the steam coils which make upthe heating unit 6, this door beingmade up of double wallslB and TI and'provided with heat insulating material 18 between the walls. A strip of felt "Z 9 is preferably secured to the inner wall 11 to provide a sealing means between the portions 'of the door which overlap the edges of the opening in the casing and to provide a cushioned surface to prevent scratching of thecontacting surfaces when the doors are moved. l

The outer casing forming a part of the rearward section 2 is provided above the top'edge of the door just described with a rectangular opening 86 extending the fulllength of the apparatus and covered with a wire mesh screen 8i which serves the purpose of partially straining the fresh paratus and is pivotally mounted ona shaft 83 which is supported at intervals by brackets '84. When the damper 82 is in the full line position shown in Fig. 4, only a small amount of air may enter the apparatus through the restricted opening 85. However, when the damper is in the position shown by the dot-dash lines in which it rests on brackets 86, the maximum amount of outside airmay enter the apparatus through the substantially rectangular opening '80. Likewise, the damper 82 serves to regulate the amountof heated air entering the cylindercompartment in comparison to the outside air permitted to enter as will be clearly seen in Fig. 4.

Below the lowermost edge of the sliding door hereinbe'fore described another opening is pro.- vided through which an amount of air equal to that entering the apparatus through the open ing' 89 may be exhausted out of the apparatus.

For this purpose, a duct 81 is provided and extends outwardly from the exhaust opening 68 of the apparatus. may be secured in place over the inlet opening 86 through which the outside air is admitted.

The amount of air discharged from the apparatus is regulated by dampers'8'9 and 95 which like the damper 82 extend substantially the full length of the apparatus and fit snugly against the inside panels of the casing as shown in Fig. 5. Brackets 9| and 92 that serve to support the dampers 89 and 96 respectively are mounted in the space between the inside panels 93 and the outside panels 94 which make up the end coverings of the rearward'section 2 in that space which is a dead air space. I provides snug fitting and practically air .tight dampers. I Damper 89 is limited in its downward movement by brackets 95 spaced within the length of the apparatus whereby a narrow rectangular opening is provided between the outermost end of the damper 89 and the bottom 9" of the appa- If it is desired, a similar duct This construction ratus through which air ing .the drying period in an amount may be discharged durcomparable to the outside air entering the apparatus through created by the fans 4 and directs a portion of it to the forward section of the heating unit 6 and another portion to the rearward section. The remainder of the heated air passes outwardly to the exhaust duct 81 through an opening 96 which results from the damper 89 being limited in its downward movement by the bracket 95 and the damper 92 being limited in its downward movement by a bracket 91, the amount of air discharged being substantially equal to the outside air entering the apparatus through the opening 89. Thus, during the drying period in which heated air is circulated through the apparatus by the action of the fans 4, a continual discharge of moisture laden air from the apparatus takes place as well as a continual admittance of dry, relatively cool make up air from the outside.

Inthe above method of drying which may be termed the recirculation method, theheated air passing through and over the wet material contained in the rotating cylinder 3 picks up water from the material and when the air is gone into the fans 4 to be forced back into circulation through heating unit, that which is heavily laden with moisture is thrown outwardly and follows .a path along the outer periphery of the fan housings and thence along the floor line of the apparatus and out through the exhaust duct 81 by way of the opening 96. The remainder of the air is split by the damper 89, passing first through the heating unit 6 and thence through the cylinder 3 and back to the fans 4, that air which is lost through the discharge duct 8'! being made up by outside air through the opening 80. Thus, the air is recirculated and the great amount of heat which would be lost if the entire draft of air were passed only once through the apparatus and then discharged is saved and a maximum of heat is obtained from a minimum of heat energy expended.

The dot-dash line positions of the dampers 82, .89 and 99 are the positions which they assume during the cooling period when outside air is circulated but once through the apparatus and then totally discharged, the operation of these dampers being controlled by a single operating lever 98 as shown in Fig. 1.

The shaft 99 on which the damper operating lever 98 is mounted extends through a box or casing I89 and into the dead air space between the panels forming one end wall of the apparatus as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. An arm IBI is rigidly mounted on the shaft 99 and connected by means of a link I92 with an arm I93 rigidly mounted intermediate its ends on the shaft I94 on which the damper 89 is mounted, the arm I93 having a weight member I85 on one end thereof which normally tends to maintain the dampers 89 and 90 in cooling position as shown by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 4, the lower endof the arm I03 being connected by a link I96 with another arm I91 rigidly secured at one of its ends to the shaft I08 on which the damper 90 is mounted. The full line position of the weight IE5 is that position it assumes when the operating lever 98 is infull line or vertical position and in which the dampers 89 and 99 are in the full line position shown in Fig. 4 or the drying period position,

tion after it has been operated the dot-dash line position of the various parts being their position during the cooling period.

As shown best in Fig. 2, the arm I01 is connected to an arm I09 rigidly secured on the shaft 83 which supports the damper 32 by means of a link III] that passes upwardly through the dead airspace between the panels forming one end of the rearward section 2. Another weight III is mounted on the arm I99 in such manner as to tend to normally maintain the damper 82 in full open or cooling period position and all of the dampers are similarly connected by similar operating means at both ends of the shafts on which the dampers are mounted. Thus, means is provided for simultaneously operating the dampers controlling the intake and discharge of air into and out of the apparatus so that the amount of air taken into the apparatus will be comparable to that amount which is exhausted and relieve the necessity of the individual operation of two sets of dampers by means of separate operating means.

Another feature of my invention consists in the provision of bafiies H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6 at intervals on the inside of the casing, considering it as a whole, which will insure that the entire draft of air currents are first directed through the heating unit 6 and then through the cylinder 3 and to evenly distribute the air currents through the apparatus and particularly through the cylinder. Also, the heating unit in the rearward section 2 is isolated from the forward section I containing the cylinder 3 by means of the sheet metal panels 45, Ill and H8. It will further be noted that the bafile I It is carried by the damper 82 and located on its under side.

In Fig. '7 of the drawings, the mechanism for controlling the locking and releasing of the door in the outer casing forming a part of the forward section I is shown, the principle of this locking mechanism being embodied in my Patent No. 1,815,724, issued July 21, 1931 for a Casing door lock. As shown, locking fingers H9 are spaced at intervals on a shaft I20 extending substantially the entire length of the apparatus and having a lever I2I rigidly mounted on one end thereof.

Such control mechanism embodies a means for moving the control mechanism to locked posito release the case door by movement of the case door to closed position. As shown, an extension I22 on the lever I2I is adapted to be engaged by a projecting lug I23 on the case door I24 to rotate the lever I2I and shaft I20 in clockwise direction as the case door is closing thereby moving the operating parts to locked position and the locking fingers I I9 into engagement with the outer surface of the case door.

The manually operable parts which consist of a bell crank I25 having one of its branches connected to a branch of the lever I22 by means of a link I26, an operating handle I27 and a spring I28 connecting the other branch of the bell crank I25 with another branch of the lever I2I are mounted upon a shaft I29. With this operating mechanism, movement of the operating handle I21 in a counter-clockwise direction will serve to rotate the lever I2! in a counter-clockwise direction and move the case door slightly outwardly, the locking fingers H9 being moved out of cooperative relation with the case door at the same time.

In the operation of this part of the apparatus, the handle I2! is rotated in counter-clockwise direction to release the locking fingers I I9 from the 2,005,386.: case door and when the'end of the bell crank I connected to the link' l 26 has rotated past its dead center the 'springyl28 automatically takes.

up the task of rotating thelever I2! to release the locking fingers H9 from the case door. At

the point of release, a door starts to move into.

open position under the action of spring retrievers I3Il'that are well known in the art andthen may befurther manually moved to open position with practically no effort. As shown in Fig. l, a spring latch I3! supported in. the retriever bracket I32 is providedas an additional holding means to safely maintain the door in open position whichv is shown by the dotted lines. To lower the case door,qthe latch I3I must be grasped and moved laterally until the edgev of the door will clear apin I33. on the latch and-when the door is loweredthe lower edge thereof will clear the locking fingers I I9, the locking fingers being moved into 3 locked position after the edge of the door has passed thereover by means of the lug I23 engaging the extension I22 as hereinbefore'described.

The cylinder 3 of the apparatus is driven. by means of a motor I34 as shown in Fig. 3 through a system of pulleys I35, I35 and I3I interconnected by belts I39 from which the operator is protected by sheet metal guards I39 and I40 and a braking means is provided for stopping rotation of the cylinder after the motor is turned off, the braking element being disposed on a braking .drum

MI and ashaft I42 that carries the pulley I35v as shown in. Fig. 1. Such braking mechanism may be of any well known'form. Likewise, the fans 4 are driven by a motor I43 through a systern of. pulleys and a belt as shown in'Fig. 2.

The operating mechanism for the brake structure and the shaft I42 consists of a short shaft I44 supported inthe retriever bracket I32 and havinga brake operating lever I45 and a sector I 45 rigidly'mounted thereon so that the lever and sector operate simultaneously as a unit. As

shown,'a connectinglink I41 connects one extremity of the sector I45 with an operating arm I48 for causing the band of the brake structure to grasp the brake drum thereof or release the same in the well known manner. Thus, movement of the operating lever I45 in one direction or the other will cause application or release of the brake.

In order to prevent operation of the apparatus and rotation of the cylinder 3 when the outer case door is in open position, the sector I46 is so disposed relative to the case door that the outeredge of the sector is concentric with its pivotal point and lies in alignment with a bracket I 49 on the door. In the full line position shown in Fig. 1, the operating power is off and the brake is set whereby the door I24 may be raised to the position shown by the dotted lines because the bracket I43 in its rotating movement with the door clears the outer edge of the sector I46 at all points. However, should the brake operating mechanism be in released position as shown in Fig. 6, the bracket E49 will contact with the outer edge of the sector I45 to prevent opening of the case door I24. Likewise, with the door in open position as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. l, the brake operating and control lever I45 can not be moved rearwardly to release the braking means since the outer edge of the sector I46 would strike against the bracket 549. Thus, a means is provided for positively preventing rotation of the cylinder 3 when the outer case door I24 is in open position.

As an additional means forpreventing opening of the outerc'ase door when the cylinder 3 is rotating,.a connectionbetween the sector I46 and the lever I2I is provided which consists of a link I50v pivotally connected atone of itsv ends. to the sector I46 and having. asliding connection by. means of a slot I5I and a pin I52 withthe lever I2I. As shownin Fig. 7, when the link I50 is in its lowermost position representingthe brake operating lever I45 in'released position, the pin I52 engages the upper end of the slot I5I in the link whereby counter-clockwise movement of the lever I2 I. to release thetlocking fingers I I9 and the case door as hereinbefore described is prevented However, when the brake operating lever I 45 is in a position, representing the brake in operation, the link I 59 will be raised to such an extent'that the lever I 2 I may be rotated counter-clockwise to release the locking fingers and permit the outer case. door to be opened.

A means has also been provided for locking the driving parts against operation when any one of the doors of the cylinder 3 are in open position.

As hereinbefore described, when such open condition of the cylinderdoors exists, the locking bar 35 engages a slot 38 in the arcuate angleiron 39. The slot 38 is longer than the width of the bar 35 and normally extends forwardly of the bar when such bar-"is in looking position, the slot also containing a lug I53 which is connectedby means of a link I54and lever I55 to a short shaft I56. The shaft I56 extends outwardly and has another lever I51 pinned thereon and connected by a link I58 to the brakeoperating link [41. Thus, when the bar 35 is disposed in the slot 38 indicating that one ormore of the cylinder doors are in open position, movement of the operating lever I45 to release the brake'hereinbefore described is prevented becausemovement of the lever I45 to effect this will be blocked by the lug I53 engaging the bar 35.

As-shown, the starting and stopping of the motor I34 is preferably controlled by a push button locked on a control box I59 as is the starting and stopping of the motor I43 for operating the fans 4. Starting and stopping of the motor I34 is further controlled through a circuit which is made and broken by operation of the brake operating lever I45 by means of a cam extension I59 which operates a switch for opening the circuit to the motor or power unit I34 when the brake is set and closes the circuit when the brake is released. By 7 the casing, simply by manipulation of the lever I45. Operation of the motor I34 is further controlled by an elevator switch ItI as shown in Fig. 1, the connecting arm I62 of which is moved by opening of the case door to break the motor circuit and by closing of the casedoor to complete the motor circuit.

A thermostatic temperature indicator that may, in some instances, be used as a thermostatic temperature control means is provided, this thermostatic means having the same principle as disclosed in the patent to E. J. Carroll, No. 1,786,191, of Dec. 23, 1930.

I Referring to the drawings and the preceding description, it will be seen that I have provided a drying tumbler embodying numerous novel and advantageous features. For instance, I have provided a tumbler so constructed that the goods within the apparatus will be subjected to the greatest amount of drying action with a minimum 6 governing the evaporation of moisture from an object are followed to the greatest possible extent.

.Another advantageous feature of my invention resides in the fact that I have provided numerous safety arrangements to prevent injury to the apparatus or to the operator thereof. For instance, means have been provided whereby it is necessary to stop the operation of the apparatus and particularly the rotation of the cylinder before the outer case door may be opened and to prevent operation of the apparatus when any one of the cylinder doors is in open position. This has been accomplished by interconnecting brake operating apparatus with the outer case door and providing a bar lock on the cylinder which will engage the outer casing when any one of the cylinder doors isin open position.

A still further advantageous feature of the invention resides in the provision of a lighting means at the top of the casing as clearly shown in Fig. 4 which, under certain conditions, is adapted to illuminate the interior of the casing whereby an operator may readily discern when all of the fabric or goods have been removed from the cylinder or the conditions within the cylinder.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a casing having a door opening therein, a rotatable goods containing cylinder in said casing, a plurality of aligned doors in said cylinder, and a common locking member carried by said cylinder and movable into locked position by opening of any one of said cylinder doors, whereby to prevent rotation of said cylinder when any one of the doors thereof is in open position.

. 2. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a casing having a door opening therein, a rotatable goodscontaining cylinder in said casing, a plurality of aligned doors in said cylinder, a locking member carried by said cylinder, and a locking member receiving means in said casing,

said locking member being movable into locked position by opening of any one of said cylinder doors, whereby to prevent rotation of said cylinder when any one of said doors is in open position.

3. Apparatus of the class described, comprising'acasing having a door opening therein, a rotatable goods containing cylinder in said casing, a plurality of aligned doors in said cylinder, a locking member carried by said cylinder, and a locking member receiving means in said casing adjacent the door opening therein, said locking member being movable into locked position by opening of any one of said cylinder doors, whereby to prevent rotation of said cylinder when the said cylinder doors are aligned with the casing door opening and any one of said cylinder doors is in open position.

4. In a machine of the class described and having a rotatable cylinder and a casing therefor, with registrable sliding doors in said parts, driving means and brake means for said cylinder, control means for said cylinder arranged for selective alternate energization of said driving means and application of said brake means, and means associating said cylinder door with said control means and arranged to prevent opening of said door unless said brake be applied, and to prevent release of said brake unless said door be closed.

. 5. In a machine of the class described and having a rotatable cylinder and a casing therefor, with registrable sliding doors in said parts, driving means and brake means for said cylinder, control means for said cylinder arranged for selective alternate energization of said driving means and application of said brake means, and means associating said doors with said control means and arranged to prevent opening of either door unless said brake be applied, and to prevent release of said brake unless both doors be closed.

CHARLES M. OTIS. 

